The Truth about being a Fashion Designer 

Firstly, slay for the new website! Secondly, A major part of it too is the change in how we perceive education now. You said earlier that an education in Parsons isn't necessarily enough, and you're right, so why arent we seeing many brands begun by people that have manufacturing experience? I specifically mean jobs, internships and apprenticeships with craftspeople. Because, realistically, design today is so heavily based only on the aesthetic to the point where so much of high fashion is truly not as well constructed as it once was. It seems that there is a gap these days for exactly that, a new designer that mirrored McQueens early years of doing four or five different apprenticeships to truly learn the ins and outs of crafting, the business and the retail side. Perhaps its because we expect designers to be younger these days, fresh out of uni, or perhaps because having a hot CD gets more attention on the brand than the quality of the clothes does. I'm just thinking aloud, but you've certainly provided me with a lot of food for thought Big love always

as a first year fashion design student this was really insightful thank u. and i also agree that the business side of fashion is important to look into as much as the art side of fashion

As a independent fashion designer it’s definitely difficult to crack the mold BUT you just have to focus on who is rocking with you and lock in on them, my custom denim designs do well without a huge following its all about your energy, the experience you leave people and word of mouth! Never went to school to learn about fashion no degree just a high school diploma,so If you have it you have it and if you don’t you don’t

I work as fashion designer for a luxury brand and I can absolutely say going to fashion school is a MASSIVE waste of time. Maybe it is easy to say for me as someone who didn’t go to fashion or art school and is working as a designer now but almost everyone I work with did and the knowledge I gained by teaching myself pattern making, graphic design and sewing through free online resources and a few used textbooks and then actually making a bunch of clothes and art was sufficient for getting a full time job. I absolutely got lucky with timing and the right people noticing my work but I stand by that fashion school is an insane waste of time and money. You can learn how to make clothes on your own. I think fashion schools are a HUGE part of the problem as they groom students for the slave labor internship pipeline via 3-4 years of students PAYING to work insane hours. It’s crazy.

extremely high quality journalism and storytelling. you never miss bro

So refreshing. I was also reading on “Debt-a-porter” and it was quite eye opening how Ellery’s business structure came to be. How it was legally correct but morally wrong. All for the sake of being relevant in the industry.

Your videos most honestly feel way too comfortable. Like I am sitting in the room on a sofa w you listening to your opinion. Keep it up man, your content is unique

I got accepted to go to ual for a masters but I declined the offer last minute and decided to go into a different industry. I also did film for my undergraduate and im completely sick of seeing how the creative and entertainment industries work - so much work for little recognition and at times a lot of debt and waste of valuable time. It got to a point for me that art lost meaning and value in the grand scheme of things so I decided for a career I want to do something else and keep my creative side to myself and my surroundings because at least then it’ll have the value that I as the creator wanted my work to have and not lose its meaning (value not as in money as in creative value). I believe art in its many forms is so valuable and the industries have minimised that.

thank you for your video. I think it is very important to know if you want to make a living in fashion that it is totally different then being a social media star etc. Fashion is wonderful but also can be very taff and oftern times people don´t know you even if you design collections that a lot of people are wearing and buying.

I love your vision, crazy to follow your blog

You made a lot of great videos but this one is the best one yet 👍

I really love this video. Thank you for this insightful knowledge 🙏🏾

Whoa. Best breakdown rooted in reality. Ty!

Capitalism destroys art.

Depressingly inspiring. 🖤

Love your videos Btw. Don’t stop 🙇🏽‍♂️

We love to your work ❤❤

You do good commentary. Stick with it. Your take is interesting enough to Subscribe to.

Everybody shut up. Fashionlover4 posted and I need to watch it NOW!

your videos are always so great. i must ask, are you INTJ 5w4?

amazing video

Yo brosauce whats the ID on tanktop?

I still wonder who Fashionlover1, 2 and 3 are...

this video is very insightful, running my own independent brand I find this to be a very difficult time but like you said you have to be a little delusional.

i think erl actually makes pretty quality clothes and there some good ideas but the way eli speaks about these oppurtunities is really misleading to the bigger picture of how he got to where he is.

Hey would you be interested in automated script conversions?

Your little cactus cute.

Eli Russell Linnetz is also a cactus!

Am I going insane or is the audio just slightlyyyy off?

This video made me so unmotivated lmfao

i love you fashionlover4

Ill never get the concept of fashion.. They just look like glorified drash bags whats the point..

*Promo sm* 😁

complains about job -> owns macbook; somthething dosnt add up here

u made Fetch happen ! #fetch22

As somebody who has worked in the industry for well over 30 years . Started with internships gaining a craft. Worked for a major designer as an assistant and freelance. Started my own lable and sold it in London for over 10 years till the downturn . Now I have my own couture business. I find what you are saying is so true . I think you have to go into fashion with a realistic look at the industry. But if it is your passion you will find your way . Maybe you never make millions and most dont you will live a creative life .And the best thing about the world today and the internet is that you dont have to be in Paris or New York, etc . Love your videos and love your take on fashion. ❤

Really glad that you highlighted a key point here that the sheer amount of debt that exists in (especially young) fashion brands that eventually leads to their demise is caused mostly from large stockists- the way that the payment cycle works is ridiculous and always ends up with the brand being screwed over, and it's true for brands you wouldn't think of that are much much larger than Peter Do. Even once they receive the product, many of the stockists won't pay brands until the end of the financial year, so in order to facilitate mass production they have to take out massive loans to cover the manufacturing costs, or strike payment terms with factories. If they have to take out loans just to make the garments, then consider that they need to pay their staff, rent their studio, pay for product development, marketing and PR, fashion shows, lawyers etc etc etc all when they're already existing on a loss. So then what..... they get paid their millions in April of every year and by the time May is over they've drained through all of the money just from paying off the previous years debt, and then they do it all over again, ad infinitum. The only real way to survive is through external investment which then puts the integrity of the brand at risk, or just by coming from an extremely rich family. It's really really unfortunate that large stockists basically hold a monopoly on the fashion industry.

WE LOVE WHEN FASHIONLOVER4 UPLOADS

As someone that loves fashion but would never pursue it as a career, I find this discussion very fascinating! Props to anyone to chooses to do this for a living. As for me, I can appreciate this industry from afar…and hopefully have a (completely different) career that allows me to afford nice clothing instead lol.

great video, as somebody trying to start a business in fashion the idealistic manner which i used to approach things have definitely shifted towards pessimism the more i learn and experience. however, i think that given the shift online, brands can build long-term followings and exposure in general much easier than before, its just choosing to participate within the existing structures cost SO MUCH. hopefully we can do our bit to change that through awareness of these newer labels and doing our to support change.

Tomorrow I end my fashion internship in a well known brand and just let me say I won't be pursuing a job in fashion ever again. Not only the experience was absolutely draining (like, working 17-20h a day, sleeping 40min only, all of this unpaid of course, and on top of that I was expected to be grateful to be there), the other interns who were older than me and already tried to pursue a career in fashion only told me horror stories, being unenployed still in their 30s and keep doing internships. And on top of all that I'm overworking myself at home doing two looks for an important emerging designer contest which doesnt even have a monetary price, just another fucking internship. I'm out guys.

Man watching your videos makes me feel a bit better in all honesty for the way I’m feeling as someone trying to enter this industry. It’s reassuring that we all unanimously think that the established system kinda sucky :) and seeings peeps like u trying to go against it makes me undeniably happy

I do agree that I'm way more interested in people who came from nothing because it's what I relate to and for me relating to an artist is a big part of what makes me like them, but I also appreciate the plight of the nepo baby. They didn't ask for the privilege they had and no matter how hard they work they'll probably never step out of their parents shadow. They have to go like a crazy Chet Hanks self destructive route to disassociate from their parents. Even major artists who come from nothing often relied on a head start. Eminem had Dre, Kanye had Jay, etc. Nobody really begrudges them for that.

Usually Im extremely critical of these types of videos, talking about how its either hard or easy to make it in the fashion industry, but watching yours actually was extremely pleasant. As someone who plans to start a personal brand, I agree that cutting corners and providing “consumer” products is a must, without them its impossible to stay afloat. Current fashion system is built primarily on lack of information provided to the consumer. Whenever we all look at the bags/shoes/hoodies - we think of the prestige associated with the brand which sells those goods, while in reality, the costs are usually much lower than an average consumer might even imagine. I dont have much to add to your video or even comment on it, thank you for making it.

Yes I can relate to the frustration that comes with doing countless internships after you graduate your fashion degree "to get your foot in the door". You are lucky to get paid $5 for you lunch at most places. For me I didnt see the point anymore... I can get paid more working in a fashion boutique just doing sales but it doesn't really get you anywhere unless you like woking in a store forever. You do probably have a better chance just going solo and spending time to build your social media following before launching your fashion product or thing.

Great video! At the end of the day, a fashion "brand," fashion "Label," or fashion "House", is a commercial venture to sell garments. I am excited for Do to go to Helmut Lang. I am sure it will give him some needed capital to continue with his namesake label. Contrast that with Velez and a perplexing move to refuse Karol G (arguably one of the most famous female latin stars) a dress for an Elle magazine COVER shoot. As I said in the beginning, a fashion label is a commercial venture, about selling. If a label or brand stops selling, they stop existing and it sounds like Velez might be romanticizing the "idea" of fashion. Shrug, I could be wrong.

It's good that you talk about this topic; I wanted to practice as a fashion designer but then I told myself; A career of 5 to 6 years paying a lot of money to later obtain a degree that perhaps was not what I planned to have for the future so it throws me back and I said to myself that it is better to start with the knowledge of Creating a clothing brand for myself own account; work to invest in it and go step by step, Ralph Lauren started selling ties and did not study design like Herrera or Victoria Beham ect...

I love your bravery and verve! I agree with much of your observations and assessments. I noticed your video "How Bernard Arnault Ruined Fashion" has had 4 to 5X the amount of views as your other videos! It took alot of bravery to discuss that topic! Sadly he and his family refuse to realize what mistakes they are making. But it's true. In 20 years fashion has not changed - it is still Eurotrash, tacky, weird, poorly made, and rarely fits well. Only those discreet boutique brands sold in Palm Beach and Paris and London quietly enjoy continued sales and are not greedy to expand, compromising quality for wealth). Your new video shocked me how badly the industry is doing overall - how poorly people are paid. Two suggestions for you to further investigate (you seem to do your research better than even the top news media but I guess they can't report the truth since they are funded by fashion advertisers!): 1. The demise of fashion magazines. Many have gone out of business in the past 30 years (Glamour, Mirabella, Allure, InStyle, etc. NOTE - no longer in print; not counting the "blogs/newsletters" under these names) or those that still exist like Vogue and Bazaar can't seem to make enough money to have 12 issues and have eliminated certain months like January, July and August. And how tacky Anna Wintour got into power ruining fashion with her creative directors of no talent. All of her magazines are forgettable and very tacky. Bazaar isn't much better. 2. The explosive growth of buying vintage. In the 1990s it was rarely acknowledged except by collectors or eccentrics. Today it is a multi-billion business that seems to be taking over high fashion! Dorris Raymond who is a vintage seller since the 1970s has seen her business in Los Angeles explode in her store and online and RU-vid operations to expanding into consultations, red carpet seller, auctions of fashion, television and movie consultant - she discusses the recycling value of vintage but it also hints at consumers disgust and dislike of today's fashion coming from LVMH, ZARA, H&M, etc...even from Chanel. Many Americans are loyal to the conservative, practical well made Chanel jewelry, clothing and accessories from the 1980s and 1990s. The same applies to Versace fashion before Gianni passed away, dismissing the Donatella fashion created after Gianni's death as Eurotrash.

Bruh the title is scaring the shhhhht out of me bc i just thought that after years of searching everything made click and realized all my life i have loved fashion without realizing and wanted to study fashion😭

This is not helping my nihilism

my favourite fashion brand is Dickies.

These honest discussions are so necessary. So many parallels in the world of music

you can apply this to art as well. All my heroes started with connections or with having capital. The people that truly start from the bottom are non-existent

Getting rejected for FIT really was a blessing in disguise, so glad I didn’t pursue a career in the fashion industry

love what u do. also love how your comment section is full of constructive responses to your vids

All the takes in this are so real and transparent. Feeling very seen after watching this. The industry is so challenging but having these honest conversations is really what keeps designers moving forward.

This one was really good. Loving the insights and realistic takes you gave. Online brands definitely make it easier than a traditional route, but the ego aspect makes it never feel enough

Raf Simons, Armani, Hedi Slimane, Yamamoto, Thom Browne, Lagerfeld, Margiela, Versace none of them studied Fashion. Westwood studied silver smithing and Miuccia Prada studied political science. Anybody can make it in fashion or start a brand off.

I'm questioning if I should study business atp

great video as always! :)

Well, this was quite depressing. Kinda diminished my hopes of becoming a successful fashion designer & owning my own fashion brand :(

👋🏼Hey!! In future, can you speak on how fashion designers/creative directors working for established fashion brands profit off of successful designs/collaborations such as Tinker Hatfield designing the 'Michael Jordan' Nike sneakers etc. Is there a commission earned for every sale or do they only get a monthly salary?

why you taping the apple logo on hp lappy??

you look like a self help guru in this one. 10/10

O ma goodnes there is new fashionlover4 video. Am happ y

So what should a young designer from a country out of the fashion realm do ? Im currently study fashion design at uni , for 4000$ a month , there r no quality haute couture tailoring apprentencipe here ...

You and fashion road man made great videos on different aspects of this topic

I think it’s important that creators make videos like this, cause sometimes I see some creators on twitter and Instagram glamorise working on fashion even tech too and they don’t talk about the realities of working there, which makes people oblivious to the struggles that comes with it, I mean look at writers of tv series, you can write a best showing tv show and be paid dirt, it’s really sick how these big companies treat workers

I mean all that fashion school ever taught me was how to waste money creating so called "art". All of the school projects taught me shit lol, wasted a whole bunch of money on materials, all for the products to later be thrown away. No commerciality whatsoever. It enrages me so much lmao. But who knows maybe that's what the fashion kids are after.

I love your channel, so down to earth man ❤

I have a question should i graduate as a fashion designer and have a degree or i have to do something else? Is it waste of money to graduate as a fashion designer?

Always informative and engaging, thank you fashionlover4

Missed the raw & real takes

imagine going through all of this, just for an Instagram with a big following to do better 😭

This might be the best fashion video on this whole platform . This is so important !

make a substack, the infrastructure is already there and it'll be easier for you to monetise than an independent blog

I find fashion schools is a business, eduction means profit from enrolment. Most graduates makes so little. I was the the fashion industry for 18 years and I changed my career to finance, I am so happy that I left it all behind. There is no glamour in fashion, it is all fake.

Man, I love that you are not shy about calling out specific brands! I think a lot of my engagement with your channel is due to your critiques of creatives whose work my basic bitch self really appreciates. I gotta defend the success of ERL here. I'm not a fan of nepo babies but I think there's something to the point that he seems to really be a go-getter willing to do any job to do the speedrun up the influence/cultural ladder. He got a graduate degree in creative direction from ye (the most valuable diploma in the game until 2020 (lets see if Milo Yiannopoulos can land trussardi)) in 2016 and freelanced for years doing storytelling at bigger brands. His focus is on communicating accessible value in New Hollywood sportswear for international audiences at high margins. This is what megacorps are looking to invest in, not trend-bucking dressmaking or timeless tailoring. this is why Mrose was asked to please try again instead of being shown the door when she misread the job description at lvmh, she can do storytelling+sportswear too. This is about appeasing stockholders yes, but noone can fault eli's ability to communicate Exactly what his brand does. It's about consistency without becoming redundant. He's about 2 years away from clearing the craig green bar of hype name into steady master but i think he can get there. I think what's gonna get him there is if he manages to claw his customer away from cdg wallets and command a respectable leather goods business--that'll be his ticket outta the basement at least. As a side note, i think Do needs to really work hard to find room to execute at fast retailing. I think he needs to quadruple the price to bring the sort of attention to detail he's known for at his own brand. I imagine his team comes with him but imagine tellin those people "yall gotta print clubwear to keep your job" lmao

man..........[..........reality but its ok it is just my choice so u alr know

Talking ab pay also goes for videography… I helped filmed a skate video of Iggy Azaela earlier this year, not a single dime was sent to me or any of us that helped make ur whack a** hotter than hell brand😂

Me personally I feel like everyone in 2024 is a seamstress or some type of designer and I’m sick of it lol 😂 nothing is original or interesting when everyone’s in love with it

Mr fashion lover 4 please please please you have to respond.... How can i learn the business side of fashion, any tips?

that supportive mother comment was wilddd, love your videos mr.fashionlover4

Fucking amazing video!!! Can we please link and have a conversation?! I agree on the importance of knowing the business side of fashion as an fashion designer/indie brand - I have so much to say about this!!!!

Maybe it’s time for high fashion to fall as we are in the poorest state economically but death always creates new life such as new independent brands

I personally mostly buy from those smaller instagram based brands. Folks like Pearled Ivory, Archivos, Adam Small.

Honeslty I loved this video, just felt a bit depressing at times and overly negative

Fashion would have more flavour if we could destroy those that have too much market share. Not an easy thing though 😬

Love your point view and I just subscribe .🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

What did you think about Pharrell's debut?

Congrats on the website

If I paid for the patreon before and I want to see a vid again, would I have to pay for that vid a second time

Best wishes for your blog! It seems like you are taking a more independent path with your business, and I hope you will be able to discuss what it is like to work outside the constraints of platforms like Patreon.

Love this ….

I don’t think we should see this move as negative it’s good it’s birthing a new way for brands to evolve I’m just about to start studying fashion at ravensbourne and I can’t wait

just got “babe wake up fashionlover4 posted”

ur views on the future of succesful fashion startups is interesting and imo correct 👍🏻

He is more and more turning into long lost Bob Ross' son

Very relevant point of view

flexing the ketra hoodie i see :D